I build dollhouses from scratch. So what if I have no carpentry skills?

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Sunday, May 11, 2014

Bungalow Porch

I can't imagine a bungalow without a porch, can you?

To make the porch, I cut a base (dimensions are based on where the inspiration house's porch lines up with the windows), then dredged up enough geometry to riddle out how long to make the porch roof pieces (matching the roof angle, of course).

After gluing and puttying the roof pieces together (I also scored the undersides to look more like boards), I cut and glued the trim in place and painted it white. Then, I cut the support beams and attached them to the base (using staples AND glue for extra stability).

Next, I glued the tops of the beams to the underside of the porch roof. After more drying, I shingled and aged the roof.

Next step: making the plywood base look like old, worn poured concrete. Taking inspiration from Otterine's concrete "breaker", I applied a thin layer of wood putty, sanded it once dry, then applied two thin layers of hard-finish Mod Podge (it was the closest thing to gel medium I had) to smooth it out even further. Then: paint!

I think the porch needs some more dirty washing, but I already love how realistic it looks.

Pardon my absence, Anna, but I had to jump back in and comment on how beautiful and historically accurate your bungalow porch looks. I live in a bungalow neighborhood and your scale replica looks exactly like my neighbor's porches. Very well done!

Thank you so much. This bungalow is inspired by a real house, so I basically printed out an old listing photo of the house's facade and did my best to copy it in three dimensions :) I am not a terribly skilled miniaturist, but I think the porch is my best work so far.

I'm guessing you're busy these days, but we'll all look forward to your eventual return with another gorgeous project.